


For England

by Joe_Reaves



Series: Sylum - James Bond [1]
Category: James Bond (Movies), Sharpe (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Crossover, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-14
Updated: 2010-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-08 22:41:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/80238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joe_Reaves/pseuds/Joe_Reaves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A different perspective on 'GoldenEye'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For England

**Author's Note:**

> Set in B J Jones [Sylum](http://www.sylumclan.com/)

_A Satellite Dish in Cuba. 1995. _

Richard Sharpe, also known as Alec Trevelyan, 006 and Janus, leader of a Russian crime syndicate, wrapped his hands around his mate's throat and squeezed. He could see a ferocious gleam in James' eyes, a mixture of anger and adrenaline. The sound of a helicopter drew his attention and he looked up to see his helicopter gunship moving into place beside him. A movement inside it caught his eye and James' latest paramour stepped into sight, holding a gun to the pilot's head. James took advantage of his distraction to flip him off and he sailed over the edge of the platform and towards the unforgiving surface of the dish over a hundred feet below them. His descent was suddenly stopped as a hand firmly seized his ankle.

Alec looked back up into his mate's eyes. "For England, James?"

James looked back impassively. "No. For me." He released Alec's foot and watched as Janus fell to his death. Standing up he waved at Natalia and leapt for the helicopter runner, hanging on grimly as it lifted away from the doomed dish. He winced as he heard the antenna explode and collapse to land on his mate's battered body.

 

_Chemical Weapons Facility, Archangel. 1986._

Alec was waiting in a darkened room, tracking his mate by the sound of his heart. Despite the fact that Alec knew he had just thrown himself off the top of a dam, broken into a chemical weapons facility and probably killed at least one guard, James' heart rate was as controlled as if he had just set off on a Sunday afternoon stroll. Alec stepped out of the shadows, gun raised; James' heart rate didn't change in the slightest.

"Where have you been? Where are your companions?" he barked in Russian.

"I'm alone," James replied, calmly.

"Aren't we all?" he drawled, lowering his gun. "You're late 007."

"I had to stop in the bathroom," James commented dryly, his eyes sparkling with suppressed humour.

"Ready to save the world again?" he asked.

"After you, 006," James told him, indicating that he should go first.

Alex hauled himself through another grate and into an air vent. "James, for England."

"For England, Alec," James replied.

They crept through the base, watching carefully for guards. Sliding a vent cover aside silently, they climbed into a hallway. James exited first and covered Alec as he pulled himself up and replaced the cover. In reality, he could have done this on his own, unless the Russians had taken to employing vampires as guards. It's hard to sneak up on someone when they can hear your heartbeat two corridors away. He rather liked working with a partner though, especially if it was James. He enjoyed the other man's dry sense of humour and had come to rely on him being there to watch his back. He hoped James wouldn't lose that humour after today's events. He'd better not pull any of those damn fool stunts he was so keen on and get himself killed before Alec could get back to him either.

Alec calmly opened the glass door to the laboratory and shot the scientist working inside. While he did so James fitted an electronic device to the door behind him and waited for the lock to open. They ran inside and shut the door behind them.

"It's too easy," James worried.

"Half of everything is luck, James," he quipped, fixing the box of tricks to the inside of the door.

"And the other half?" he asked.

Alec flipped a switch on the gadget and klaxons sounded loudly throughout the complex. Red warning lights began flashing over the doors.

"Fate!" he declared. The two men ran down the stairs. "Set the timers to six minutes."

"Six minutes, check," James replied, slipping between two of the gigantic gas tanks that filled one half of the room and starting to set the explosives.

A door bursts open and a handful of guards run through. Alec opened fire and took them down. More gunfire erupted as Colonel Ourumov and his guards fired at the bulletproof window and then finished it off by smashing it with the butts of their guns. Alec took a position and began firing at them, making sure to draw their fire away from James.

"Closing time, James!" he shouted. "Last call!"

"Buy me a pint," came the reply from somewhere amongst the gas canisters.

Another door burst open and more guards flooded in to the room. Alec allowed himself to be outflanked and eventually forced to his knees at Ourumov's feet.

"Shut the door, Alec! There's a draught," James called. When he didn't get a reply he called again. "Alec?"

Alec had to force himself to remain silent and not answer his mate. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bond peer around the gas canisters.

Colonel Ourumov shouted to him, "Move out! Throw down your weapon and walk towards me. Slowly."

"Finish the job, James!" he shouted. "Blow them all to hell!"

Colonel Ourumov began a countdown. James darted back behind the canisters and then threw down his gun. Alec bit back a groan. "Stick to the plan," he thought. "Complete the mission. Don't let me get you killed." James stepped out from behind the canisters.

"For England, James!" Alec shouted. He saw Ourumov raise his gun and then nothing.

_Chemical Weapons Facility, Archangel. Two minutes later._

Alex groaned and pushed himself on to his knees. He glanced at his watch. Four minutes left before hell would break loose. It was a good job he was a vampire or Ourumov's shot really would have killed him. At least he hadn't bled out, he didn't have anywhere in his fatigues to hide a couple of packets of blood for emergencies. He staggered to his feet and slowly made his way towards the door. A shrill beeping noise caught his attention and he spun around to stare at the gas canisters in horror and then threw himself through the open door. There was a horrendous crashing, thundering sound and Alec felt the burning sensation of flames licking across his back and up one side of his body.

"Damn, now I'm going to have to fake some burn scars," he cursed. "Good show, James, I should have realised you'd manage to change the game."

_St Petersburg. 1995._

Janus closed hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, a smile playing on his lips. "So, you've expressed an interest in Xenia, have you, James?" he mused. "No doubt you'll be at the launch of my new helicopter tomorrow too. The game's afoot, James. We'll be seeing one another soon, I hope."

He picked the telephone up again and placed another call.

"Valentin," he drawled.

"No, no, not a social call," he said. "I think you'll be getting a visit from an old friend in the next few weeks. James Bond."

He laughed, "On the contrary, Valentin, I'm counting on you to send him to me. Try not to kill him."

He hung up the phone again and smiled. "Soon, James. Very soon."

_A Junk Yard in St. Petersburg. One Week Later._

Janus waited in the shadows of the junkyard as a car pulled up. He listened carefully and swore to himself. There was only one heartbeat in the car – did this mean Xenia had failed? Or had she killed James? He gripped his gun tighter. James had to still be alive. But if he were alive then he'd have followed Xenia at the very least. The single heartbeat slowed as if in sleep – had someone knocked Xenia unconscious? In which case it would have to be a vampire. Suddenly he heard another noise. Someone was trying to creep through the junkyard. To his enhanced senses it sounded like they were blundering around, but a human would probably be hard pressed to hear anything. A very familiar silhouette appeared from behind one of the statues. James! But still no heart beat. Someone had turned his mate. He railed in frustration at his stupidity in taking this assignment. No mission was worth this. He hadn't been there when James had needed him. Silently he cursed M, his M, not the current Ice Queen. He should have never allowed the man to talk him in to becoming Janus; he probably wouldn't have done if it had been anyone else doing the asking. Two hundred years and he still couldn't turn a Harper down when they asked for a favour. He composed himself again. He wasn't going to throw nine years work away when they were so close to flushing out the traitor. To do so would be to dishonour the men who had died over those nine years – not to mention the fact that Valentin would laugh himself sick if he thought Alec had screwed up by thinking with his … libido.

"Hello, James," he drawled, stepping into the light.

James froze. "Alec?" he asked softly.

"Back from the dead," Alec continued. "No longer just an anonymous star on the memorial wall at MI6." James just stood there, staring at him, eyes wide with shock and, deeply buried, pain. Alec felt awful. His disappearance had wounded James badly. He always appeared so casual and cool about everything that you tended to forget how personally he took things like this. The idiot had probably been blaming himself for the last nine years. "What's the matter, James? No glib remark? No pithy comeback?"

"Why?" James asked, his voice full of pain.

Alec laughed, but inside he was screaming in pain. His mate was in front of him, hurting, and he was about to turn the knife.

"Hilarious question. Particularly from you. Did you ever ask why? Why we toppled all those dictators, undermined all those regimes?" Alec asked. "Only to come home 'Well done! Good job, but sorry old boy! Everything you've risked your life and limb for has changed!'"

"It was the job we were chosen for," James shot back. Alec could see his mind working frantically. James was aware he was a vampire and must know that Alec knew he was too, and yet they were both avoiding the issue for the sake of the unseen watcher that Alec knew was there and James must suspect. He could see him trying to figure out how long Alec had been a vampire and if he really did get him killed – the scars must be confusing the hell out of him, because they meant that he was human when he 'died', but if he was then who could have turned him. And when? Soon he would know the truth and Alec would see how hard he was going to have to work for forgiveness.

" Of course you'd say that. James Bond, Her Majesty's loyal terrier. 'Defender of the so-called Faith'," Alec goaded him. James raised his gun. "Oh please, James," Alec told him. "Put it away. It's insulting to think I haven't anticipated your every move." Another hint, James. Another clue. I'm dropping them like breadcrumbs. Will you figure it out or am I going to have to tell you myself?

"Yes," Bond said, lowering the gun again. "I trusted you, Alec."

"Trust. What a quaint idea," Alec commented. Of course you trusted me, he thought. It was instinctive. We're mates, have you figured that out yet or are you too far away? Do your job, James. Bring the Janus Syndicate to its knees and trust me to keep us both alive. When this is all over Janus will need to die, maybe even at your hand. Symbolic somehow if it is, that would bring it full circle. Janus will die so that Richard Sharpe can live once more. You haven't met him yet; I think you're going to like him though.

"How did the MI6 screening miss that your parents were Lienz Cossacks?" James asked.

" Once again your faith is misplaced," Alec answered. "They knew. We're both orphans, James. While your parents had the luxury of dying in a climbing accident, mine survived the British betrayal and Stalin's execution squads. But my father couldn't let himself or my mother live with the shame of it. MI6 figured I was too young to remember. And in one of life's little ironies, the son went to work for the government who caused the father to kill himself and his wife." Very good James, to have figured that out. Of course it's all a fiction, but you don't know that yet. Valentin must have let that snippet fall into your hands.

"Hence, Janus," James mused. "The two-faced Roman God come to life."

"It wasn't God who gave me this face," Alec snarled. "It was you. Setting the timers to three minutes instead of six."

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" James asked, coldly. His voice may have been unconcerned but Alec could see the pain and guilt in his eyes. Time to finish this before I say too much, Alec thought.

"No. You're supposed to die for me," he said. "And by the way, I did think of asking you to join my little scheme, but somehow I knew that 007's loyalty was always to the mission, never to his friend." He raised his voice and gave the signal to his sniper. "Closing time, James. Last call."

James raised his gun again but it was too late. The dart from the tranquilliser gun hit him in the neck. Alec hoped that it wouldn't have too strong an effect on his mate, because if he accidentally killed him he was going to wreak the kind of carnage his enemies couldn't imagine even in their worst nightmares. He walked over to where James had fallen and looked down on his crumpled body.

"For England, James," he said, sadly.

_Junkyard in St Petersburg. Some time later._

Alec watched as his mate was strapped into the helicopter along with that annoying computer programmer, who he just knew was going to end up as the next notch on James' bedpost, providing he managed to rescue her. By the time the missiles fired he was a nervous wreck – not that anyone watching him would have been able to tell from his body language. He leaned casually against one of the statues and watched the missiles zoom away from the helicopter, turn and home back in on it. Come on, James. You've been in tougher spots than this. Do something. He contemplated running towards the helicopter, but all that would accomplish would be to kill him as well as James and he wasn't going to let James die for nothing. If he didn't escape then the least Alec could do for him was to catch the traitor before he lost it. Suddenly the rotors flew off and the cabin of the helicopter ejected. Not a moment too soon either as the remains of the helicopter were hit by the missiles only a couple of seconds later. The cabin gently floated down to earth on its parachutes and Alec disappeared back into the shadows as the police converged on the junkyard.

_Janus' HQ (a train). A short while later_

Alec grabbed the telephone and waited impatiently for his call to be connected.

"Ourumov. Your police have managed to get their hands on my prisoners. Get them out," he demanded. "I don't care if you kill the girl or bring her with you, but bring me Bond." He slammed the phone back into the cradle without waiting for a response. He needed to make it look like he was going to kill James, but actually leave his mate time to escape, just like last time. Fortunately, James was not known for cooperating with the authorities, so he didn't have to worry about James spoiling his plans. Besides he would want to do it himself – James preferred the personal touch. The only problem would be making sure James didn't lose his trail when he left for Cuba. He smiled and picked up the phone again.

"Boris," he drawled. Then he sighed impatiently as the stupid boy started blathering about something that clearly fascinated him, but was supremely unimportant to Alec. "Boris, stop talking and listen to me. The train is going to be taken out of commission shortly. I need you to go online and back up your files. If you lose anything and screw my plans up I will be very unhappy so do make sure you make a thorough job of it."

That should do it, Alec thought. The girl had to be good for something and if he knew Ourumov as well as he thought he did the General wouldn't want to leave such a pretty prize behind when they escaped. Of course the General wouldn't be leaving with them, but he didn't know that.

_Janus' HQ. One hour later._

Alec looked up from his meal when Ourumov and the girl entered the compartment. There was no sign of Bond. At least the General had managed to keep hold of the girl, James would no doubt continue to chase them as long as they had his latest skirt in tow.

"Either you've brought me the perfect gift, General Ourumov," he said, smiling at the girl who was foolish enough to have had her hands on his mate. "Or you've made me a very unhappy man."

"Mishkin got to them before I could," the General said.

"Bond is alive?" Alec asked, keeping his concern from showing in his voice by sheer force of will.

"He escaped," Ourumov confirmed.

"Good for Bond," Alec said calmly. Another failure to add to Ourumov's tally. "Bad for you." He indicated a seat near by. "Take a seat, my dear." He got up and walked around the girl, kneeling on the floor behind her. Pretty, feisty, a tiny bit innocent for James' taste he would have thought. He moved her hair away from her face, wanting to play with her for a while. She may not have known that James belonged to him, but even so it was taking all his control to keep himself from wrapping his hands around that pretty little neck and squeezing. "You know James and I shared everything. Absolutely everything." His mind flashed back to a couple of occasions when they had not only shared a girlfriend, but bedded her at the same time, the closest he dared come to making a move on James, unfortunately.

"To the victor go the spoils," he quipped, kissing the side of her neck. "You'll like it where we're going. You may even learn to like me."

He pulled her to her feet and kissed her roughly on the mouth. She pulled back and slapped him. Hard. He rubbed his jaw but was spared from having to react by the sound of an alarm going off. "Stay with her," he called to Ourumov. He ran to the front of the train, aware of Xenia following him, but not paying her much attention. He used a monitor to zoom in on something parked on the track ahead. It was a tank. He resisted the urge to bang his head on the table – why couldn't James ever do anything the simple way?

"Bond. Only Bond," he said, shaking his head.

"He's going to derail us," Xenia said. She didn't seem particularly unhappy about it. Alec glanced at her. He found her to be a little … disturbing, to put it mildly. He grabbed a radio and spoke to the driver.

"Full speed," he instructed, smiling to himself. He'd seen how much damage James could cause with a sports car, what he could do with a tank would be interesting. Alec hoped it wasn't carrying any ammunition, but doubted he'd be that lucky. James always seemed to find some way of blowing things up when he needed to, or even when he was simply in the mood if you asked Q.

"Shto?" the driver queried.

"Full speed. Ram him!" Alec called. //Let's see which one of us can cause the most damage, shall we James?// The train shuddered. Apparently James had managed to get his hands on tank shells after all. The brakes squealed and Alec and Xenia were thrown to the floor. The train crashed into the tank and Alec saw flames shoot past the windows. He had been thrown to the floor and he laid there for a moment, pretending to regain his breath, which the crash would have knocked out of him, had he needed to breathe in the first place.

Alec sensed his mate approaching and tried to grab his gun, which lay on the floor only a few feet in front of him. As he grabbed it a foot stood on it, keeping him from picking it up. He looked up into James' cold eyes and risked a small smile, but got no reaction.

Frustrated, he sighed, "Why can't you just be a good boy and die?"

"You first," James snapped back. He pointed the gun at Xenia. "You, second. Up!"

Alec and Xenia stood and Alec raised an eyebrow at James. "Situation analysis – hopeless. You have no back up, no escape route, and I have the only bargaining chip."

"Where is she," James demanded.

Alec narrowed his eyes as a flash of jealousy shot through him. "Ah yes, your fatal weakness." He picked up the radio and called Ourumov. "Bring her in. Lovely girl," he continued, looking at James again. "Tastes like …" he paused, for dramatic effect. "Tastes like strawberries." He saw an emotion flash through James' eyes. It looked like jealousy, but whether it was over him or the girl Alec couldn't be sure.

"I wouldn't know," James told him and Alec allowed himself a small smile.

"I would," he said. Ourumov dragged Natalia into the room, a gun to her head. "So, we're back where we started, James," he said. "The friend? Or the mission? Drop the gun, I'll let her live." Something changed in James' expression and their eyes met. Suddenly the atmosphere changed and they seemed to be on the same wavelength again, reading one another's minds as they had when they worked together. The atmosphere seemed to Alec to lighten and instead of a war it became a game, both competing to see who had the winning move, but lacking the malice he had felt in their earlier encounter. He knew how this scene was going to play out, what James' next move would be. He inclined his head slightly, barely moving it, but letting James know that the ball was in his court. Alec would follow his move this time.

"Ourumov," James asked. "What has this Cossack promised you?" There was a brief moment of silence and Alec saw Ourumov's grip on his gun tighten. "You knew didn't you? He's a Lienz Cossack." Very good, James, the first point goes to you.

"It's in the past," he denied.

"He'll betray you! Just like everyone else," James told him.

"Is this true?" Ourumov asked.

"What's true," Alec answered. "Is that in 48 hours you and I will have more money than God. And Mr. Bond here will have a small memorial service, with only Moneypenny and a few tearful restaurateurs in attendance. So, what's your choice, James? Two targets, time enough for only one shot. The girl or the mission?"

"Kill her," James said coolly. "She means nothing to me."

Alec smiled and nodded. Thank you, James, that's nice to know. "See you in hell, James."  
He nodded at Ourumov and ran for the door. He heard James turn and shoot Ourumov and then heard the bullets pinging against the armour as it slid into place around the carriage, trapping James and Natalia and giving him time to escape with Xenia.

They ran to the helicopter and watched as the roof of the train slid open allowing them to take off. He radioed the train, James should have had time to discover that the floor was the weakest part of the carriage by now, but just in case he hadn't …

"Good luck with the floor, James," Alec said. "I set the timers for six minutes. The same six minutes you gave me. It was the least I could do for a friend." He closed the connection having given his mate all the information he would need to be clear of the train before the explosives went off in three minutes. The explosion would look good and no one would be able to blame him if James escaped, once again, from certain death. The man had more lives than a cat, after all, everyone knew that.

_Cuba. 36 hours later._

Alec checked his watch impatiently. Xenia hadn't checked in and he couldn't be sure that it was James in the plane, which she was investigating. He'd had to shoot it down when it looked like they weren't going to spot the dish and he was keeping his fingers crossed that Xenia's silence meant that James had dealt with her and was heading his way at this moment. Still, if he hadn't spotted the dish from the air then there was a chance he wouldn't spot it on the ground either. He sighed; James was making this more difficult than it needed to be. He lightly ran down the stairs towards Boris and the control centre.

"Is the satellite in range?" he asked brusquely.

"Six minutes," Boris told him.

"Prepare the dish," he instructed.

"No, it is too early," Boris said arrogantly. "I am not ready."

Alec glared at him. It was a pity that he needed Boris. After nearly twenty-four hours in the man's company he was fighting the urge to drown him in the lake above them.

"Do it!" he ordered.

He opened the briefcase containing Goldeneye and removed it from the case. Handing it to Boris he said, "The world's greatest cash card. It had better not be rejected."

Boris slid it in to the machine. They both stood there waiting impatiently – Boris for the satellite to come on line and Alec, ostensibly for the same reason but in truth for the arrival of his mate. James was cutting things awfully fine, Alec thought.

"Mischa is on line," Boris announced at the same moment a guard interrupted them. He handed Alec a handheld display. James and Natalia could clearly be seen running along the side of the dish. Finally.

"Kill him," Alec announced. "The man just won't take a hint."

"Target coordinates?" Boris asked.

"The target is London," Alec informed him. Hitting London was the only way to make his spy at MI6 show his hand. He had never met the man, never even spoken to him on the telephone. The only way they would know who he was, was to watch and see who transferred all their assets out of the country just before Goldeneye was due to wipe out the financial hub in London. Miss. Moneypenny, working on orders from the previous M, had kept Alec's mission a secret, but it was now in its final stages and she would be the one monitoring the assets of every high ranking MI6 agent. When the transfer was finally made she would give M the pertinent information – but leave Alec's role out of it. When this was all over Alec would be retiring. As far as he was concerned both Alec and Janus would be dead by the end of the day – it was time to go back to being Richard Sharpe and Sharpe had no intention of working for the crown again any time soon.

"Antenna is in position," Boris announced, interrupting his musing. Alec took the keys needed to enable the system and handed one to Boris. They inserted them into the machine together.

"On my count," Alec said. "3 … 2 … 1." They both turned the keys and a map appeared on the large view screen. London was highlighted as was Mischa's current position and its projected orbit. A Plexiglas cover slid to one side and a red switch was revealed. Alec turned it. The words 'weapon armed' flashed up on the screen.

"God Save the Queen," Alex said with an ironic smile.

Suddenly shots rang out. Alec recognized the sound of the guards' weapons and James' Walther PPK. Right on time, James! A moment later James was escorted into the main part of the control centre by two guards.

"James! What an unpleasant surprise," Alec commented.

"We aim to please," James replied with a small smile.

"Where's the girl?" Alec asked, neither expecting nor receiving a reply. "Find her," he snapped at the guards.

Alec sorted through the things that the guards had taken from James. He picked up the pen. Knowing the way Q's mind worked he doubted it was just a pen, but he certainly wasn't going to fiddle with it to try and find out. He had no intention of losing a hand.

"So how is old Q? Up to his usual tricks?" he asked. He held out his hand. "The watch …"

James turned it over and Alec compared it to his own. "Ah, new model. Still press here do I?" His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of a detonator deactivating. He smiled at Bond. Check. Your move.

James looked up t the main view screen. "Interesting set-up, Alec," he commented. "You break into the Bank of England via computer and transfer the money electronically. Just seconds before you set off the Goldeneye, which erases any record of the transactions. Ingenious."

"Thank you, James" Alec commented wryly, wondering where James was going with this. He recognized the smile as James' I'm-setting-you-up-for-a-smart-ass-comment-please-do-something-stupid smile.

" But it still boils down to petty theft," James continued. "In the end you're just a bank robber. Nothing more than a common thief."

Alec leapt to his feet and glared at James. He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed this game – although petty theft was a little unfair. He should at least get points for the scale of the thing. He started to walk around James, trying to put him off his stride.

"You always did have a small mind, James," he drawled. "It's not just erasing bank records, it's everything on every computer in Greater London. Tax records. The stock market. Credit ratings. Land registries. Criminal records. In sixteen minutes and 43..." he leaned back and checked the countdown. "No, 42 seconds the United Kingdom will re-enter the Stone Age. "

"A worldwide financial meltdown," James said. "And all so mad little Alec can settle a score with the world. Fifty years on."

Ohh, below the belt again, James. My turn. "Oh please, James," Alec retorted. "Spare me the Freud. I might as well ask if all those vodka martinis ever silence the screams of all the men you've killed." He glanced across as his guards brought in Natalia. "Or if you find forgiveness in the arms of all those willing women – for all the dead ones you've failed to protect. England is about to learn the cost of betrayal. Inflation adjusted from 1945."

"Welcome to the party, my dear," he said to the girl who was being held by two guards. Boris looked up and walked over to her.

"Natalia!" he exclaimed.

She pulled away from the guards and launched herself at him. They hit the floor, with Natalia on top. She punched, kicked and clawed at the other programmer. Alec watched in amusement for a couple of moments before signalling to the guards to pull her off.

Boris struggled to his feet, grabbing James' pen instead of his own in the confusion. James noticed though and kept a careful eye on him. So did Alec, who divided his attention between Boris and James.

Boris stood right in front of Natalia, waving the pen at her. "Don't ever do that again!"

"This is not one of your games," she snarled at him. "Real people will die. You pathetic little worm!" Well OK, perhaps I can see what James sees in her, Alec thought. Boris raised his arm to slap her and Alec grabbed it. No reason at all to let the little twerp have any fun.

"She was in the mainframe," Alec told him. "Check the computer."

"She's a moron," Boris said arrogantly. "A second level programmer. She works on the guidance systems. She doesn't even have access to the firing codes."

As he said it an alarm went off, klaxons sound and red lights flash. Alec fought the urge to shoot Boris for sheer stupidity. Boris threw himself into his chair and brought some data up on the screen.

"Retro-rockets firing!" he exclaimed. He started twirling the pen through his fingers nervously and clicking it on and off. James watched him attentively and Alec watched James.

"What the hell's happening?" he demanded.

"We'll have re-entry in twelve minutes," Boris told him frantically.

"It'll burn up somewhere over the Atlantic," Natalia told him smugly.

"Deal with it," Alec demanded.

"She changed the access codes," Boris said.

"Then she can fix it," Alec declared. Grabbing James by the collar, he thrust him towards the girl. He pulled his pistol and pushed it into James' jaw. He was standing close enough to his mate that as well as watching him, he could smell his cologne and, if he had had any, feel the heat coming from his body. Alec bit the inside of his cheek to distract himself from his body's natural reaction to being this close to James.

"Go ahead, shoot him," Natalia said, repeating James' words from their last encounter with Alec. "He means nothing to me."

James kept his attention firmly on Boris and the pen and Alec tried to split his between them, but his movement had put them either side of him. James was stood in front of him and Boris was sitting directly behind him. Eventually Alec lost patience with Boris' feeble attempts and pointed his gun at Natalia.

"Tell him. Now!" he demanded.

Boris jumped from his seat and yelled, "Give me the codes, Natalia. Give them to me." Suddenly Bond kicked the pen from Boris' hand and grabbed Natalia. Having had plenty of experience with the destructive power of Q's little gadgets, Alec dived for cover too. The centre was rocked by a huge explosion, which set the tanks of petrol on the first floor ablaze, setting off several more explosions. In the confusion Alec lost sight of James and Natalia. When things had stopped exploding Alec ran back to the bank of computers.

"How long?" he asked Boris.

"Two minutes," the programmer replied, nervously. Alec called for a guard. "I'm fixing it," Boris assured him.

Alec took the guard's assault weapon and then indicated Boris. "If he moves, kill him." He ran off towards the transmitter. He could sense his mate's presence nearby and he knew that James would not rely on Natalia's codes defeating Boris. Which meant he would try and destroy the transmitter array.

Alec leapt into a cable car and headed for the array. Almost parallel with him he could see James running across the footbridge. He pulled his gun and fired several bursts at James, who fired back. A neutral observer, had there been one, might have wondered how they both managed to miss their targets completely. Tossing the automatic to one side Alec pulled a handgun and fired again. He chased James down the ramp onto the main array and fired once more. James somersaulted down the ramp and through a door.

Alec opened the door and followed him. As soon as he was inside James tackled him, threw him down a flight of stairs and shot at him. Alec winced as the bullet grazed his upper arm. He ran outside and along a walkway, briefly losing James. He hid behind a building and watched as James ran along the walkway looking for him. James spotted some blood on the handrail and dipped his fingers in it, bringing it to his nose and sniffing it. Alec felt himself harden at the thought of James licking his fingers clean. James continued along the walkway and into the building, lowering himself carefully down a ladder. Alec followed him. He jumped down and hit James, managing to land a couple of punches before James pushed him off. They fought evenly for a minute or so, crashing through a set of metal pipes. He threw James into a ladder and James reversed the move throwing him into a wall. He pushed James into a table and was fended off with an accurate kick. He struck James again and James grabbed his arm and threw him into another wall. He lost his gun and James managed to land several blows as he tried to retrieve it. Eventually he got hold of it again and aimed it at James as he tried to recover from an impact with yet another wall.

"You know James," he said, clutching at his arm, which was still bleeding slightly. "I was always better." He raised an eyebrow as James glared at him and then he lowered the gun. He walked towards James carefully, not making any sudden moves. When they were almost touching he leaned in a captured his lips for the first time. James hesitated for a fraction of a second and then opened his mouth, welcoming his mate's tongue inside. Alec pushed up against him, crowding him back into the ladder behind him and growled.

"Mine!" he said, pulling away from James' mouth.

"You don't own me, Alec," James retorted. "Besides you're the one who disappeared for nine years without a word. God, I thought you were dead!" He clutched at Alec's shirt and pulled him back in for another desperate kiss. When they separated again he reached up and traced Alec's scars.

"Make up," Alec explained. "And even if it wasn't, it wouldn't be your fault. I knew if you thought I was alive you'd come after me and I didn't want that. I've missed you."

"How long?" James asked.

"Have I been a vampire?" Alec clarified. "Since the end of the eighteenth century. I was a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. When did you die?"

"A few months after I thought you had," James explained. "I was driving too fast, took a bend wrong and hit a tree."

"They must have been watching you, for me," Alec said. "Either that or it was one hell of a coincidence that there was someone close enough to save you. Who was it?"

"Draco," James said. "You're part of Camelot as well?"

"Yes," Alec confirmed. "I'm Bowen's child. I was supposed to turn you. I shouldn't be surprised that you managed to change the rules again."

James kissed him again, resting one hand on the side of his neck, his thumb on the pulse point, or where it would be if Alec were human. "What do you want me to do?"

"Kill me," Alec said with a smile. "As far as MI6 are concerned Alec Trevelyan died nine years ago. Janus needs to die tonight so that Richard Sharpe can live again."

"Richard?" James asked.

"My real name," Alec explained.

"Come back with me," James begged. "Explain your mission to M."

Alec shook his head. "No, Alec doesn't exist anymore. I want to be me again. But just because I don't work for the government it doesn't mean I won't be following you around the globe. In case you don't know by now, my loyalty has always been to you, not the mission." He kissed James hard and stepped back. "There's a trapdoor beneath your feet. Trigger it. I'll follow you down and we'll fight. Toss me off the edge so there can be no doubt about my death and then go home. I'll be there waiting for you."

He raised the gun again and James triggered the release mechanism on the trapdoor. The ladder shot downwards and James clung to it. When it reached it's full length, the ladder jerked to a halt and James nearly lost his grip.

Alec checked his gun and threw it on the floor. I just held MI6's top agent at gunpoint with an empty gun, he thought in disgust. Needing a witness for their next act he grabbed his radio.

"Alpha One to gunship, Alpha one to gunship." He summoned the gunship to the tower and once he heard it take off he began to climb down the ladder towards James. James began the slow climb up to meet him. He let go of the rungs and slid down the ladder, knocking James off. He grabbed the last rung and hung there, one handed, glaring up at Alec.

"Ow," he muttered under his breath, just loudly enough for another vampire to hear. Alec laughed and climbed the rest of the way down, deliberately putting his boot on James' hand and forcing him to let go. James dropped to the small platform below. Alec jumped down after him. Using James' momentary distraction as he scrabbled to regain his balance, Alec leant down and wrapped his hands around his mate's throat and squeezed. He could see a ferocious gleam in James' eyes, a mixture of anger and adrenaline. The sound of a helicopter drew his attention and he looked up to see his helicopter gunship moving into place beside him. A movement inside it caught his eye and James' latest paramour stepped into sight, holding a gun to the pilot's head. James took advantage of his distraction to flip him off and he sailed over the edge of the platform and towards the unforgiving surface of the dish over a hundred feet below them. His descent was suddenly stopped as a hand firmly seized his ankle.

Alec looked back up into his mate's eyes. "For England, James?"

James looked back impassively. "No. For me." He released Alec's foot and watched as Janus fell to his death. Standing up he waved at Natalia and leapt for the helicopter runner, hanging on grimly as it lifted away from the doomed dish. He winced as he heard the antenna explode and collapse to land on his mate's battered body.


End file.
